The massacre
by cleopatra1
Summary: Set after the Port Charles fire, a murderer is terrorizing Port Charles. Which characters will die? Who will survive? Who's the killer? Read and find out! on hiatus
1. Default Chapter

The massacre

Prologue

Setting: This takes place a few months after the Port Charles fire, and one thing I changed. No lunatic, pathetic pity looking character stole Nikolas nor did he survive the fire. He's dead. I'll be sure to update you more as the scene changes.

Police men scoured the docks, looking for evidence as to who did the crime this time. It was closed off for any joggers, or just the people who used the area as a shortcut to their chosen destination.

Police commissioner Mac Scorpio was called and had just arrived. He lifted the yellow and black "caution" paper and stepped under it and came to where the victim laid.

The crime scene investigators were drawing the white line as to where the body, now corpse lay. The people who handled dead bodies, the morgue people would take it to General Hospital and do an autopsy after they were done. There they would find out the cause of death.

Until then, they just had the crime scene. He hunched over it. He grinned and studied the body for any clues of the killer. None, it was probably a long off shot, a sniper perhaps. He looked up. There was certainly room for such an action.

He looked back at the dead body as the district attorney came by. Mac cursed sharply. He couldn't be here; it was a subject of personal interest.

Ric Lansing came to him anyway and asked right away, "What do we have?" He asked Mac.

Mac ignored his question. "You can't be here. This can't be your case." Mac stepped in front of him so as he can't see the person's identity.

"Why not?" Ric asked Mac and stepped around him and gasped with shock. He visibly paled.

"That's why not." Mac said and took Ric's forearm, leading him away.

Ric fought him. "What happened?" He demanded answers.

"That's what we're trying to find out." Mac told him firmly. "So stay out of the way and let us do our job, will you?" Mac lost patience.

Ric knew it was useless to fight Mac, so he went to talk to the other police officers around. Maybe they would be more open to exchange information.

This left Mac alone to look over the body more, no hair, no misplaced button, and no evidence as to who killed Sonny Corinthos.


	2. Chapter 1

The massacre

Chapter 1

Mac stood from the body and went to the forensics people. They were busy at work, but Mac had to know if they found anything yet. "Have you found anything yet?" He asked the leader of the group.

He turned to look at the commissioner. "Nothing yet, sir." The man told him, "But were working on it, we'll find something." He tried the positive view, but at this point Mac knew they would find nothing or something of little use.

Mac didn't trust the guys so he went to an officer on call. "Check up on the top buildings. Look for anything, gun powder, shells, bullets, anything." Mac ordered him. The man nodded and Mac left to continue to asking around the officers searching the docks.

He got nothing. Lights came their way. The medics were here. Now maybe they'd get something they could use. An autopsy wasn't much evidence wise, but it could get them going in the right area.

The body was taken away and night fell. There wasn't much anyone could do anymore. It'd have to wait for another day. Mac made sure that the "caution" paper would stay in place and that there would night watchers so no fall play happened to the scene of the crime.

But he couldn't go home yet. He had to do something else, something he hated most of all; the absolute worst thing of his job. He had to break the news to the family.

Most the time this was hard, but with the victim, it was going to be twice as worse. Carly Corinthos, Michael Corinthos, Morgan Corinthos. An emotional and radical family you have there. Carly was a very troubled, dependent young woman and Michael was just too much like his parents for his taste. He had nothing against Morgan; he was only an infant after all, but he had no doubt that that kid was going to be trouble when he grew up.

He went to the penthouse where the family stayed. The bodyguards glared at him as he went by. Michael was coloring on the dining table and Carly was picking up toys from the ground. She straightened up as his footsteps echoed across the floor.

She glared at him with hatred. "What are you doing here?" She snarled at him.

"I have some news that is relevant to you." Mac started, and Carly cut him off almost automatically.

"No news you ever bring is good news." Carly commented. "Say what you have to say and leave." She ordered him.

Mac didn't have any other choice, so he just went with the straight truth. "Your husband is dead." He told her and he turned to go as she ordered him. She was just making this easier for him, but she didn't know that.

Carly's eyes narrowed and she ran after him. She stopped right in front of him. "What are you doing?" She asked him.

Mac was tempted to roll his eyes. "Leaving, just as you specified." He replied, a little like a smart aleck.

Carly couldn't believe she was saying this. "Stay." She ordered. Mac looked back at her. "Now, would you explain your scheme here?" She asked.

Mac blinked in surprise. She thinks this is a scheme? It was almost too unlikely considering she was the one who had the schemes. "There are no schemes here, Sonny Corinthos is dead. His body is on the way to the morgue as we speak." Mac said firmly.

An angry voice shouted from behind them. "My dad isn't dead." It said and they looked around to find Michael there.

"Michael," Mac tried being reasonable here. "I know you don't want to believe me and even though I have tried dozens of times to take down your father, I am sorry for your loss." He finished.

Carly went to Michael. "I don't believe you either. I mean, I faked my own death and here I am." She said pointedly.

"This is different…" Mac said but knew he couldn't get through to them no matter how hard he tried. He just waved them on. "Step by the hospital morgue tomorrow to identify the body. You can take it when were done with the autopsy. You can take of the funeral, memorial, and burial issues on your own, whenever you wish." He just said his part and continued his movements to leave.

Carly didn't take no for an answer. "You want me to identify the body of a stranger I don't know?" She demanded.

Mac shook his head. He's seen denial, but this is crazy. "No, you have to identify the body of your dead husband and children's father, or if you can't do it, I'll stop by Kelly's and have Mike do it instead." He suggested to her.

She stuck her finger in his chest. "I told you before Scorpio," Carly took a deep breath, "MY HUSBAND ISN'T DEAD!" She told him.

"He isn't?" He decided to see and try this from the point of view of her. "Okay, then, if he's not dead, where is he? Is he with you?" He asked.

"He's not here." Carly told him.

Mac nodded. "Okay, so the last time you saw him?" He asked again, continuing his interview.

"This afternoon." Carly replied. "He had to stop by his warehouse to check out a break in that happened earlier." So she had eavesdropped?

"And, is he usually home by now?" He asked one last question.

"Usually, but there are special cases." Carly insisted desperately.

"Special cases, huh?" Mac asked, knowing he got into her worries. "Okay, I'll stop by Kelly's to have Mike identify the body." He told her and made a few more movements to leave.

Mac left without another word. It was a long day and he's done his part of the job, it wasn't his fault the family was in denial. They'd soon realize when Sonny didn't come home he was right.

It was late, nearly morning when he finally got home. He stopped by Kelly's but found it closed early. He just called Mike by telephone and left a quick message. Felicia came down the hall just as he opened the door.

"Another late night?" She asked, in her red terry robe and slippers.

Mac took his key out and closed the door, locking it. "Yeah, you wouldn't believe who was found dead tonight." He answered and after a few seconds added, "Sonny Corinthos."

Felicia was visibly shocked. "Sonny Corinthos? Someone finally finished him off?" It wasn't news that he had tons of enemies and no one would be surprised if he was found dead at one time or another

"Yeah, it's going to be a blast in finding his murderer with the number of enemies he had made." Mac wasn't looking forward to it; no one was, so he was obviously being sarcastic.

"Did you tell Carly and the kids yet?" Felicia asked, curious.

"Yeah, I did, but out of all the families I thought, they were one of those denial ones. Mrs. Corinthos threw her own 'death' thing in my face and accused me of scheming, when we all know she is the scheming one. Then the red head, Michael, came in and didn't want to believe it either." Mac sighed and sat on the couch.

"Then who's going to identify the body if no one wants to believe he's dead?" Felicia asked.

"I went looking for Mike and eventually left a message on his answering machine." Mac explained and rubbed his temples.

Felicia rubbed his shoulders. "Why don't we go to bed? You need some sleep to handle what would be tomorrow." She suggested and led them to their bedroom.

"Good idea." He said and followed her without thought.

The settled into bed and fell asleep in each others arms. Three or four hours later his cell rang unattended, crying for attention on the nightstand. He wretched away from Felicia and the thought of sleep and reached over for it.

"Mac Scorpio, commissioner here." He said and the other voice spoke on the other end.

"Sir, sorry to interrupt your sleep, but we have a problem." An officer on the other end spoke.

"What kind of problem?" Mac asked, even though he really didn't want to know.

"There's another one." He explained, but forgot the details.

"There's another what?" Mac asked, slightly rolling his eyes.

"Body, uh, correction corpse." The officer corrected himself.

Mac groaned. "Do you have the identity of the dead person?" He asked, reluctantly getting up.

"Yes, we sure do." The officer told him.

"Don't skip around the bush, tell me." Mac ordered tired, exhausted, unhappy and crabby thanks to the little sleep he got.

"Scott Baldwin" was the answer he got.


	3. Chapter 2

The massacre

Chapter 3

Mac stood in the elevator, it finally landing at the right floor. The doors opened with a set of movements and a happy noise, which he ignored and made his way for the scene of the crime for the second time tonight.

He went to the door and shared a few words with the deputies and officers around to keep the peace. He kneeled under the yellow and white "caution" tape once again and looked around the apartment Scott Baldwin had for a home.

It sure didn't look homey to him. He was in the middle of the intersection between the rooms and the living room. There was no signs of struggle in this area, no body either, so the murder must have happened in another room.

He took care, glimpsing around, touching nothing. Anything could be considered evidence at this particular scene. He met with the young, amateur officer who called him to report this find.

"Officer Murphy, where's the body?" He asked point blank, not wasting time. Officer Murphy silently stepped aside and let Mac see the damage and corpse of the former district attorney.

On the while tiles that consisted of the floor in that particular room, was covered with blood. In the middle of the mess was Scott Baldwin, his limbs at weird angles, pale and very much dead.

His white shirt and shorts were covered with blood, the bloody knife lay near him. He looked back to the officer. "I take it he was stabbed to death?" Mac supposed.

Officer Murphy nodded. "That's what we suspect. We don't know for sure, but the angle that those knife wounds are at, it would be impossible for it to be considered suicide. Those angles and marks usually mean that someone else had to do it." The officer explained, motioning slightly to the body.

Officer Murphy was no veteran in the police department, but then again, he was no newbie. Mac took that information at arm's length. They'd know that when the autopsy was done.

He looked back at the living room. "There are no signs of struggle?" Mac supposed, asking the officer another continuous question.

"No, sir. We believe it was a surprise attack, no time for Scott Baldwin to fight." The officer explained.

Mac looked at the ground for any signs of footsteps. It was carpet, no way to tell shoe size, no evidence in that area. He looked to the door, which the forensic team was working on.

He left Officer Murphy and went to see if there was anything there, any clue who did this. "Did you check the lock?" He asked them.

One of the forensics people, a man named Joseph Riley, answered for the group. "Yeah, we did. Nothing, no force whatsoever, it must have been unlocked when the murderer came in, he got in easy. No fingerprints either, must have been wearing gloves." Joseph added, knowing that question was coming eventually.

So that meant also none on the murder weapon, a big butcher knife, one probably from Scott Baldwin's own collection. This case wasn't looking good at all.

Meanwhile, at the hospital a weepy and very emotional Carly was in the lobby, waiting for the okay to go see her husband for the last time.

It finally hit her that morning when Sonny never came home. Mac was telling the truth last night. Michael asked in the morning if his dad ever came home, but she couldn't lie to him and told Michael he hadn't, but didn't reveal that he was dead. She just said that she was going to find him while he was in school. She didn't want Michael to know of his dad's death until she was absolutely certain he was dead, even though her instincts and feelings knew it was true.

Someone had finally gotten rid of her husband, as she thought this she broke out in another sob. Emily, who had just gotten off one of the elevators overheard her sobs and went to investigate.

She stopped when she saw it was Carly and hesitated to approach her and ask what was wrong. They weren't friends, they weren't enemies, but she couldn't just ignore what she was seeing either, so she made her way towards her anyway. The worst that could happen was that Carly would scream for her to go away and she would gladly do so if asked.

Carly didn't acknowledge another person's presence before Emily called her name deafly. "Carly?" Emily asked, waiting for the worst.

Carly turned quickly to face Emily and frowned. Carly was a wreck. Her eyes were red and glassy, there were bags under her eyes. Emily sat across from her on the love seat. "Carly, are you okay?" She asked, pitying Carly at this given moment.

Carly couldn't speak at first, a sob stuck in her throat. When she did though, it was hard to understand anyway. "Sonny…he's…" She couldn't finish, the sob coming again.

Emily grimaced and fished in her purse for a tissue that Carly could use. She found one and held it out; Carly took it gratefully, nodding her thanks. Emily waited for Carly to finish her sentence when she was ready.

Carly blew her nose loudly and wiped her eyes, trying to compose herself some. "Sonny's dead." She said, her voice faltering a bit.

Emily frowned again, shocked though. Sonny was finally dead? That was hard to believe at this point, Sonny had escaped death so much before. Carly probably thought the same. Still, despite Emily's doubt, she told Carly, "I'm so sorry, Carly." She was sympathetic, she had lost Nikolas herself. It was absolutely heartbreaking but she was dealing.

Carly practically ignored her and continued on with her story. "Mac told me, but I didn't want to believe him. I thought it was just a scheme to get Sonny convicted finally." Carly paused for a moment, continuing a second later. "But he never came home." She confessed finally.

"Oh, Carly…" Emily stopped, not sure what to say. When she was just beginning her grieving for her fiancé, Nikolas, she hated the I'm sorry's and all the condolences people gave. They absolutely drove her nuts. She didn't want their sympathy and maybe Carly didn't either. It was hard to say, she didn't know Carly all that well.

So Emily went for a neutral topic. "How did Michael take it?" She asked, knowing Michael loved Sonny so.

Carly shook her head dramatically, as if in denial. "I didn't tell him, I just couldn't until I knew for sure. I don't want to put all that hurt on him if it was just another false alarm." Carly admitted and Emily had to understand that one.

Emily offered her services. "If it's too hard for you, I could always do so. Take him off your hands while you deal." Emily asked, offering help in this time of need.

Carly shook her head stubbornly again. "No, I can do it, but thanks for the offer anyway." Carly told Emily and became silent.

Emily stood up, leaving to give Carly some alone time. "Okay, call me if you change your mind though." Emily prepared to leave, grabbing her purse and walking a few steps before Carly called her back. Emily turned and waited for Carly to say what she wanted to say.

Carly didn't disappoint her. "How do you do it?" She asked but Emily had no clue what she Carly meant.

"How did I do what?" Emily asked, curious.

"Grieve, move on with you life, be happy. I mean you just lost Nikolas a month or so ago and here you are happy and keeping on going. I don't know if I can do it." Carly voiced her fears and Emily frowned, looking for an explanation that Carly could understand.

Emily went and sat back down on the loveseat. She set down her purse and answered Carly's question. "I know, at first you don't think you can go on. It's hard, to see a future without your loved one, you loved them so much you made it all about them and then they just...leave." Emily stopped, sad now but continued anyway. "But then one day you wake up and you can just tell that everything's going to be okay. You need to give it time, to help you heal. It hurts now, I know, but it's going to be okay." Emily explained, though from her own ears it seemed like she was someone else.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks Emily." Carly told Emily as the coroner approached her to take her to identify her….husband. She just couldn't say the words yet. Carly got up and prepared herself, trying to call all her strength and courage that she had up until today.

Carly looked down as Emily placed another tissue in her hand and smiled encouragingly. Carly managed a small smile of thanks, for the tissue, comfort and advice, and followed the coroner a bit hesitantly.

Emily watched Carly go and wished her the best of luck. She never actually got to identify Nikolas's body, so she couldn't offer any comfort there, but she was beginning to wish she could. It might have brought more comfort, more closing after his death, but she would never be able to do that. There was no body to identify and that made this loss that much worse.

When her mom died, it was much the same story, but she actually got to see the body, actually got to be there when she died. She didn't know how Nikolas died, whether it was of too much smoke inhalation or being crushed by a pillar, or maybe he got burned to death. She would never know though.

That was the hardest part of moving on this time around. Sure she woke up in the mornings, she ate, she slept, she lived, but it wasn't easy. Some days she didn't want to get out of bed, sometimes she just didn't want to eat, sometimes she wished she was with Nikolas, but she always found some reason to get up or eat or live. It kept her strong and she knew Carly would make it through, besides the fact she had to for her children's sake. Carly would be just fine.

Author's note: Okay, yeah, that Carly and Emily scene would never happen, but I thought it would be a nice interlude, I mean this story has been way too serious so far. I had to lighten the negativity and dark themes, or at least try to. Did it work?


	4. Chapter 3

Warning: Possibly a very graphic and dark chapter. Read at own risk. You have been warned.

The massacre

Chapter 3

Mac stood looking over the files of the recently deceased Sonny Corinthos and Scott Baldwin. He desperately needed a break in this case.

Both men had gained so many enemies before their death, so there were plenty of area to search but no solid evidence. Nothing, no clues whatsoever, the corpses were no help. Sonny was killed by a bullet to the head and Scott Baldwin, stabbed to death.

He had no doubt that it had been a sniper who had knocked off Corinthos, and he considered the thought that these deaths were similar, but there was no proof of that. Different weapons and cause of death, different death places, different times of death, the only thing similar was they got murdered on the same night.

So he had absolutely nothing to go on. That butcher knife said it killed Baldwin, the ex-district attorney, but no fingerprints. Everything else was a no go, the cases were already cold and they had plenty of suspects, but with no evidence, what good was the suspects?

Motives were numerous; hatred of the men, revenge, land and power and money, their job. Who was to know which the correct one was? But he had nothing to go on. IF indeed there was a killer going around, all of Port Charles was in danger, his wife, his friends, and his children.

It was up to him to find this murderer, but there was no proof that the crimes were connected so he couldn't announce to everyone that there was a killer on the loose and that you needed to watch out and be careful. For all he knew, it may have been two separate murderers.

A knock slammed on his door. "Come in." He called and a frustrated, edgy Ric Lansing stalked in, slamming the door behind him.

"Why hasn't my brother's murderer been captured yet?" He asked Mac straight forward.

"You know that is privileged information." Mac said firmly.

"Screw privileged. Sonny was my brother and I want justice served." Ric argued angrily but Mac barely flinched at his tone.

"Well, tell you what Ric. You give me some solid evidence and we can arrest some suspects." Mac taunted Ric, knowing full well that any evidence he gave couldn't be used.

"What do you call his body? The bullet that got logged itself in his brain?" Ric asked.

"Inconclusive evidence." Mac said, knowing full well that was the truth.

"How is the bullet inconclusive? Couldn't you track down the serial number?" Ric continued his questions of justice.

"Custom made, we can't even tell what gun was used with it." Mac told Ric. He had one of his guys' track it down and he found it wasn't on the list, so he came to the conclusion that it was custom made. He had to credit the murderer, they covered their tracks well.

"So they're rich. Go on that." Ric insisted.

"I tried; Lorenzo Alcazar was out of the country. Edward Quartermaine was in a board meeting that went late, Monica and Alan were working the night shift. Alan Jr. is out of the country as well." Mac thought at all the basics.

"What of the five families?" Ric asked.

"They all had alibis." Mac asked, wondering if Ric thought him incompetent. He may be the District attorney but he was the commissioner and knew what he was doing. He'd been doing this for years.

"Fine, what about Baldwin?" He asked, slouching in one of the chairs in front of Mac's desk. "Does anything connect both of the murders?"

"No, but my gut says their connected, but we have yet to find the evidence that proves that." Mac glared at Ric, hoping he'd get the message that nothing could be done for the moment.

"It's been days, why haven't you found anything that could even lead to an arrest?" Ric still asked, not seeing the big picture. This was why he couldn't be on the case, too bias.

"Whoever did these murders, Ric, they were good. They left not one little hair that would help in his arrest. They were rich, obviously, but they weren't stupid when they did the actual acts." Mac argued.

"Everyone makes a mistake sometime." Ric persuaded Mac. He made them himself.

"Yeah, well, obviously not this time around. So until this murderer or both of them at this point strikes again, we have nothing to work with." Mac explained.

"And who's to say they will kill again, Mac? If both my brothers and Baldwin were murdered for revenge, then what's to say this murderer wants more revenge?" Ric argued.

"Trust me to do my job Ric. I've been in this profession for years and I know what I'm doing. Most killers will kill again, and when this one does we will..." Mac got interrupted by his phone ringing.

He sighed and picked it up, saying "Commissioner Scorpio here." Ric waited in the chair to finish their conversation, besides the call might mean something to his brother's case.

Mac frowned paling slightly. "I'll be right there." He hung up and got up from his chair.

"We'll have to finish this conversation another time." He told Ric.

"Was there another murder?" Ric asked, standing up, following Mac as he left his office.

Mac just ignored him and went to a desk officer and spoke with him briefly before turning to leave the station, Ric following him like a dog.

"Mac!" Ric screamed. "Would you answer my question already?" He asked as Mac got into his car.

Mac started it up and after saying "no", drove away on assumed police behavior, leaving Ric in the dust.

He made his way towards the main Corinthos coffee warehouse where Sonny Corinthos used to do his major dealings. When he got there, the big warehouse had the same black and yellow caution tape, all around it.

He gained access by going again under the tape and went to the nearest officer. "What happened here?" He demanded almost automatically. It was best for his sake to get straight to the point.

"A man who worked for Mr. Corinthos came by under the order of Jason Morgan to take care of the last shipment. He came around the bend, to open the door where he found what he thought was an unconscious woman." The officer reported, gesturing to the man by his partner.

"And let me guess, she was dead." Mac supposed, wanting to roll his eyes.

"Yes, sir, she was indeed dead. Decapitated, in fact." The officer swallowed at that mention. He wasn't much for blood and especially a body without a head. He really should have watched another movie other than sleepy hollow last night, but who was he to guess that he'd report to a murder scene where the victim was indeed without a head?

Mac blinked. "Decapitated? You care to tell me our victim is without her head?" Mac was shocked. Something like this was rarely seen.

"Well, it was found amid some boxes and crates, a few yards from the doorway and body, but yes her body is without the head attached." The officer replied, subconsciously winding his free hand around his neck in effect.

"I take it that's not the whole story." Mac responded, knowing something was missing; there was no ending to the young man's report.

"No, its not, sir, in fact there is two bodies." The officer gulped and told Mac.

Mac rubbed his eyes. Enough of surprises already, if he got one more he was going to consider retirement at this point, forget the huge college bills he would receive in a few years.

"Give it to me straight. Who is the second victim?" Mac advised him.

"That's why the guard who came here was so surprised, besides the decapitated body. It was Mrs. Corinthos, she hung herself." The officer reported.

"Are you sure?" Mac asked, maybe the light was off. Those warehouses were dark with all those high, dirty windows that were rarely cleaned.

"Well, there's not much light, but it was most definitely Mrs. Corinthos. I doubt the guard wouldn't be able to tell that, he did guard her a few times from what I heard." The officer answered truthfully.

"Where is she?" Mac asked, rubbing his temples from an upcoming headache. He wasn't joking when he said if he got one more surprise he'd consider retirement. It sounded pretty good right now.

"Inside the warehouse, a few feet from the door, look up." The officer pointed to the door and Mac left him without another word.

Mac stepped over the body and went around where the forensics team hadn't looked and entered the warehouse. When Mr. Corinthos died, he still had quite a shipment to sell off. He swerved through all the stacked boxes and wooden crates for a few feet, making him think this was a maze.

He stopped short when he noticed something indeed hanging. A body, the head angled, attached to a rope attached to one of the high placements. It was Carly Corinthos, newly widowed and a mother of two sons. A dead Carly Corinthos.

A/N: thanks to lovekitty for changing their story summary, it was looking too similar to mine, but now i'm satisfied. thanks again if ur reading.


End file.
